Deleted as requested. JIM
OK I've been beat up enough on this!
The FE Nationals was indeed a great, well organized event - lots of fun loving boaters - some of the greatest FE drivers on the planet were there. But to stuff a sock in my mouth for raising a serious safety issue that could have been a genuine disaster - is inappropriate. To require "silence" regarding what happened is BS. For the race director to tell the FE Nationals participants at the drivers meeting the following morning to keep silent about what had occured - including any mention of what happened on this OSE forum - is extreemly anal at best. Downright dangerous if this information could have saved someone facing a similar situation.
The fact is, the smoke and flames from an ice chest 1/2 full of LIPOs (at least 20) was a VERY scary sight and came very close to burning up a big buck trailer full of big buck FE race boats, not to mention the physical risks to those brave racers who entered that trailer to try to put it out with dry chemical extinguishers. Inhaling the smoke from burning LIPOs is extreemly hazardous and may have long term impact on those who tried to extinguish the fire.
I am shining daylight on what occured for one reason only: THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE.
Should you have the misfortune of having a LIPO meltdown or fire - FIRE EXTINGUISHERS ARE USELESS. This serious fire was only stopped by dunking the ice chest full of burning LOPOs in WATER.
And try NOT to breathe the smoke. Stay upwind if possible. Eventually, the fried LIPOs will stop burning under the water - yes they will continue to burn underwater - but it still takes awhile & those smoke bubbles are dangerous.
I hope this thread helps anyone who encounters a burning LIPO. To those who would rather I keep my mouth shut - too bad. JIM
OK I've been beat up enough on this!

The fact is, the smoke and flames from an ice chest 1/2 full of LIPOs (at least 20) was a VERY scary sight and came very close to burning up a big buck trailer full of big buck FE race boats, not to mention the physical risks to those brave racers who entered that trailer to try to put it out with dry chemical extinguishers. Inhaling the smoke from burning LIPOs is extreemly hazardous and may have long term impact on those who tried to extinguish the fire.
I am shining daylight on what occured for one reason only: THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE.

Should you have the misfortune of having a LIPO meltdown or fire - FIRE EXTINGUISHERS ARE USELESS. This serious fire was only stopped by dunking the ice chest full of burning LOPOs in WATER.
And try NOT to breathe the smoke. Stay upwind if possible. Eventually, the fried LIPOs will stop burning under the water - yes they will continue to burn underwater - but it still takes awhile & those smoke bubbles are dangerous.
I hope this thread helps anyone who encounters a burning LIPO. To those who would rather I keep my mouth shut - too bad. JIM

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